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Psalm 123

A song of ascents.

1 I lift up my eyes to you,to you who sit enthroned in heaven.2 As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress,so our eyes look to the Lord our God,till he shows us his mercy.

3 Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us,for we have endured no end of contempt.4 We have endured no endof ridicule from the arrogant,of contempt from the proud.

Psalm 124

A song of ascents. Of David.

1 If the Lord had not been on our side—let Israel say—2 if the Lord had not been on our sidewhen people attacked us,3 they would have swallowed us alivewhen their anger flared against us;4 the flood would have engulfed us,the torrent would have swept over us,5 the raging waterswould have swept us away.

6 Praise be to the Lord,who has not let us be torn by their teeth.7 We have escaped like a birdfrom the fowler’s snare;the snare has been broken,and we have escaped.8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 125

A song of ascents.

1 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,which cannot be shaken but endures forever.2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,so the Lord surrounds his peopleboth now and forevermore.

3 The scepter of the wicked will not remainover the land allotted to the righteous,for then the righteous might usetheir hands to do evil.

4 Lord, do good to those who are good,to those who are upright in heart.5 But those who turn to crooked waysthe Lord will banish with the evildoers.

Warnings From Israel’s History

10 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea.2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.3 They all ate the same spiritual food4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”[a]8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.9 We should not test Christ,[b] as some of them did—and were killed by snakes.10 And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.

11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!13 No temptation[c] has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted[d] beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,[e] he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

Idol Feasts and the Lord’s Supper

14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.15 I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.

18 Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar?